2 drown in Kolhapur: Woman falls into well, boy dies in river mishap

Kolhapur: It was meant to be an ordinary Tuesday — one family heading to a village doctor, another seeking relief from the relentless summer heat in this western Maharashtra district. Instead, the day turned into a nightmare, as two separate drowning incidents claimed the lives of a 30-year-old woman and a 12-year-old boy, both in front of their loved ones.

In the first incident, Mayuri Benke, a resident of Daryache Vadgaon in Karvir tehsil, drowned after the two-wheeler she was riding skidded off the road and fell into a nearby well. Her husband, Vishal Benke, who was riding pillion, survived and is undergoing treatment at CPR Hospital.

An officer of the Ispurli police said, "Mayuri was on her way to the doctor with her husband. While passing a well located about 10 feet from the road, a piece of flying debris entered her eye, causing her to lose control of the two-wheeler. The couple fell into the well along with the vehicle. The well had no wall around it."

Vishal, who can swim, tried to locate his wife in the water but failed. He managed to climb out of the well and alerted relatives and nearby residents. A search operation was launched, and Mayuri’s body was recovered. The police reached the spot, conducted a panchanama and registered an accidental death case. The couple had dropped their two young daughters at relatives’ home before they left home for the visit to the doctor, the police said.

In the other incident, Ujjwal Gangaram Badiger died after drowning in the Panchaganga river near the Rajaram barrage in Kasba Bawda. The Shahupuri police said Ujjwal had gone to the barrage with his father and elder brother on Tuesday afternoon for a swim.

His father, a floor installer originally from Gokak in Karnataka, was at the riverbank when Ujjwal fell from the barrage onto rocks, suffered a severe head injury, and lost consciousness before drowning, the police said.

On hearing his brother's cries, some local residents and members of the Kolhapur Disaster Management Force reached the spot and pulled Ujjwal out of the water. He was taken to CPR Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The police registered a case of accidental death.